Vibrating conveyors



May 10, 1966 ALLEN ET AL 3,250,380

VIBRATING CONVEYORS Filed Oct. 7, 1964 INVENTORS KENNETH M. ALLEN FOYE H. HARPER BY BUCKHORN, BLORE, KLARQUIST & SPARKMAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,250,380 VIBRATING CONVEYORS Kenneth M. Allen and Foye H. Harper, Newberg, 0reg.,

assignors to Allen-Harper, Inc., Newherg, Oreg., a corporation of Oregon Filed Oct. 7, 1964, Ser. No. 402,179 13 Claims. (Cl. 198-220) This. invention relates to vibrating conveyors, and more particularly to swash plate drives for vibrating conveyors.

An object of the invention is to provide swash plate drives for vibrating conveyors.

A further object of the invention is to provide vdrives for vibrating conveyors variable from no throw to a predetermined maximum throw.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide drives including variable angle swash plates.

A still further object of the invention is to provide simple, highly effective vibrating conveyor drives which have infinitely variable throws.

' The invention provides vibrating conveyors having swash plate drives in which swash plates are mounted adjustably between first positions in which the swash plates have no throw and extreme positions in which the swash plates impart maximum throws to conveyor beds.

In a vibrating conveyor forming one specific embodiment of the invention, a swash plate is keyed to a motor shaft of an electric motor mounted on a pivotal plate supported by a fluid pressure cylinder device for adjustment of the plate, and a conveyor bed is connected by a thrust rod to the swash plate and is spring urged in a direction maintaining the rod under compression. The rod is connected for limited universal movement to the conveyor bed at one end of the rod and theother end of the rod is connected by a ball and socket joint eccentrically to the swash plate. In a vibrating conveyor forming an alternate embodiment of the invention, a thrust rod is connected pivotally at one end to a conveyor bed and is connected at its other end to a radial arm of a swash plate keyed to a shaft of an electric motor. The motor is mounted on a pivotal support for movement by a manually controlled actuator between a first position in which the swash plate is normal to a line from the pivot point of the conveyor bed to the shaft and no throw is imparted to the thrust rod and a second position in which the swash plate is angularly inclined relative to the line from the pivot point so that the thrust rod is reciprocated.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from the following detailed description of vibrating conveyors forming specific embodiments thereof, when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a vibrating conveyor forming one embodiment of the invention when in one condition;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, side elevation view of a portion of the conveyor of FIG. 1 in an adjusted condition;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, partially sectional, side elevation view of a vibrating conveyor forming an alternate embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, partially sectional, side elevation view of a vibrating conveyor forming an alternate embodiment of the invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, a vibrating conveyor forming one embodiment of the invention includes a conveyor trough or bed 12 which is oscillated by a swash plate drive 14 primarily to the right and left, as viewed in FIG. 1, and somewhat up and down. The conveyor bed 12 is supported by resilient struts 16, which are parallel to one another and are supported by "ice supports 18 carried by a base 20. The drive 14 includes a swash plate 22 keyed to a shaft 240i an electric m0- tor 26 fixed to a pivot plate 28 mounted pivotally on a horizontal pivot 30 carried by bracket 32 fixed to the support 18. A crank pin 34 is fixed to the swash plate 22 at a point thereon eccentric to the shaft 24 and is connected by a ball and socket joint 36 to a thrust or connecting rod 38 connected at its other end by means of a clevis 40 and a pin 42 to a plate 44- fixed to the bottom of the conveyor bed 12. The pin 42 goes through a hole in the plate 44 which is considerably larger than the diameter of the pin 42 and the clevis 40 fits loosely on the plate 44 so that the clevis 40' and pin 42 form a universal joint for limited pivotal movement of the rod 38 in any direction relative to the plate 44. A tension spring 46 connected to the plate 44 and to a plate 48 urges the plate 44 and the conveyor 12 toward the left, as viewed in FIG. 1, to maintain the thrust rod 38 under compression. A cylinder 50 pivotally connected at its lower end to a mounting bracket 52 carries therein a piston (not shown) serving to position a piston rod 54 connected by a clevis 56 and a pin 58 to the plate 48. Conduits 60 and 62 lead to a manually controlled valve (not shown) adapted, depending upon'the condition in which the valve is set by the operator, to supply fluid under pressure selectively to the upper and lower ends of the cylinder 50. The cylinder 50 and its associated elements form a manually controlled, selectively adjustable fluid pressure actuated cylinder device, and may be actuated to pivot the plate 28 to any selected position between 21 first position in which theshaft 24 is aligned with the center of the pin 42 and face 66 of the swash plate 22 is normal to a line extending from the pin 42 to the center of the swash plate 22, and an extreme po sition in which the shaft 24 is inclined relative to a line joining the center of the swash plate 22 and the pin 42, as illustrated in FIG. 2. When the plate 28 is in the first position, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the pin 34 is revolved about the axis of the shaft 24 but has no movement longitudinally of the shaft 24-, so that the conveyor bed 12 is not reciprocated. When the plate 28 is adjusted to incline the axis of the shaft 24 relative to a line from the pin 42 to the center of the disc 22, the pin 34 pushes the thrust rod 38 back and forth as it is revolved, and, the conveyor bed 12 is moved back and forth and moves alternately upwardly and to the right, as viewed in FIG. 1, and downwardly and to the left to advance material on the conveyor bed toward the right, as viewed in FIG. 1. The ball and socket joint 36, in addition to providing a universal joint coupling between the crank pin 34 and the thrust rod 38, also permits rotation of the pin 34 relative to the rod 38 as the pin 34 is revolved by the swash plate 22.

A swash plate drive 70 for a vibrating conveyor forming an alternate embodiment of the invention includes an electric motor 72 mounted on a pivot plate 74 pivoted at the left-hand end thereof, as viewed in FIG. 3, and ad justable by a fluid pressure operated cylinder device 76 which is infinitely adjustable and under the control of the operator. A swash plate 78 keyed to a shaft 80 of the motor 72 has a frusto-conical socket 82 formed therein eccentric to the axis of the shaft 80. The socket 82 receives a more sharply tapered, pointed end 84 of a thrust rod 86, and the rod 36 seats in the socket for limited universal movement in the socket. The thrust rod also has a tapered upper end 88 seated in frustoconical socket 90 in bracket 92 fixed to a conveyor bed 94 to permit limited universal movement of the thrust rod 86 relative to the conveyor bed 94.

When the swash plate drive 70 is in the condition thereof shown in FIG. 3 while the motor 72 rotates the shaft 80, the swash plate 78 is not normal to a line from the socket 90 to the shaft 80 and longitudinal motion of the rod 86 is produced. When the cylinder device 76 is actuated to raise the free end of the plate 74 to a position in which the shaft points directly toward the socket 90, no longitudinal motion of the rod 86 and the conveyor bed 94 is produced. The sockets 82 and 90 have substantially wider angles or tapers than the tapered ends 84 and 88 of the thrust rod 86 so that there is limited universal movement of the thrust rod 86 relative to the swash plate 78 and the bracket 92 with no tendency to bind. Preferably the sockets 82 and 90 are so positioned that, when the shaft 80 is in its position extending directly toward the socket 90, the centerlines of the shaft 80-and socket 90 coincide and the centerline of the socket 82 extends toward the center of the socket 90. The tapered ends of the thrust rod 86 and sockets 82 and 90 form simple, effective and inexpensive universal joints.

A swash plate drive 100 (FIG. 4) of a vibrating conveyor forming an alternate embodiment of the invention includes a thrust rod 102 connected at one end by a ball and socket connector 104 of the type used with automatic tie rods to an arm 106 extending radially from and fixed rigidly to the periphery of a swash plate 108. The other end of the thrust rod 102 is connected by a radial-andthrust bearing 110 to a ball-and-socket joint 112 similar to the ball-and-socket joint 104. The ball-and-socket joint 112 connects the thrust rod 102 for limited universal movement to a rod 114 fixed rigidly to conveyor bed 116, which is mounted by flexible struts (not shown) like the struts 16 (FIG. 1). The swash plate 108 (FIG. 4) is rotated by shaft 118 of electric motor 120 and is fixed to the shaft 118 in a position normal to the shaft 118. The motor 120 is mounted on pivot plate 122 identically to the mounting of plate 28 (FIG. 1), and is selectively positioned by cylinder device 124 (FIG. 4) identical with cylinder device including cylinder 50 (FIG. 1).

When the plate 122 (FIG. 4) is held in a position in which the shaft 118 extends directly toward the balland-socket joint 112, rotation of the swash plate 108 by the motor 120 merely revolves the thrust rod 102 and no movement is imparted to the conveyor bed. However, when the plate 122 is pivoted clockwise from this posi tion by the cylinder device 124 and is held in its adjusted position, the plate 108 is no longer normal to a line from the joint 112 to the shaft 118 and the conveyor 116, which is biased by the struts to the left, is moved back and forth to feed material therealong. The joints 104 and 112 are simple and inexpensive and are commercially available. The joint 104 includes a ball 130 held pivotally between spherical socket members 132 and 134 held in tubular housing 136 by plug 138, the rod 102 also being held against longitudinal movement relative to the housing 136.

The above-described swash plate drives 14 and 70 are simple and rugged in construction, are highly effective in operation and are easily adjusted through wide ranges of throw from zero to maximum. The drives include minimum numbers of simple, durable elements, and the motors 26 and 72 may be kept continuously running at full speed and the conveyors stopped and started without delays of acceleration and deceleration.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a vibrating conveyor,

a conveyor bed mounted for back and forth movement,

a rotor rotated on a central axis inclined relative to to the conveyor bed,

connecting means connecting a predetermined point of the conveyor to a portion of the rotor eccentric to the central axis thereof,

and adjustment means for adjusting laterally the central axis of the rotor relative to the conveyor bed to vary the throw of the rotor and connecting means.

2. In a vibrating conveyor,

a movably mounted conveyor bed,

a thrust member coupled to the conveyor bed at a predetermined point thereon,

a rotor,

means rotating the rotor about a central axis thereof,

means coupling one end of the thrust member to a portion of the rotor member eccentric to the rotor,

means urging the conveyor bed in a direction urging the thrust member toward the rotor,

and means for selectively adjusting the position of the rotor from a position in which the central axis of the rotor is aligned with said predetermined point to a position in which the central axis of the rotor is angularly inclined relative to a line extending from said point to the rotor.

3. In a vibrating conveyor,

a conveyor bed,

a connecting rod,

universal coupling means connecting one end of the connecting rod to a predetermined point on the conveyor bed for limited universal pivotal movement relative thereto,

a rotor mounted for rotation on a central axis thereof,

means for rotating the rotor on its central axis,

universal coupling means connecting the other end of the connecting rod to a portion of the rotor eccentric to the central axis,

and adjustable means mounting the rotor adjustably between a first position in which the central axis of the rotor extends toward said predetermined point and a second position in which the central axis of the rotor extends generally along the conveyor bed and also extends angularly between a line joining the central portion of the rotor and said predetermined point.

4. In a vibrating conveyor,

an electric motor having a shaft,

a plate mounting the motor and adjustably pivoted at one end thereof on a horizontal axis,

a rotor disc keyed at its central portion to the shaft an rotated thereby, I

a connecting rod, I

first universal coupling means connecting one end of the rod eccentrically to the rotor disc,

a conveyor bed mounted for back and forth movement in a position extending generally along and angularly to the shaft of the motor,

and universal coupling means securing the other end of the rod to a point on the conveyor which is aligned with the shaft when the plate is in one position of adjustment.

5. In a vibrating conveyor,

a conveyor bed,

a rotor disc rotatable about the central axis thereof,

thrust means engaging one face of the rotor disc eccentrically thereof and connected to the conveyor bed at a predetermined point thereof,

adjusting means mounting the rotor disc adjustably between a first position in which the said face of the disc is normal to a line from said point to the center of the disc and a second position in which'said one face of the disc is inclined relative to said line.

6. In a vibrating conveyor,

a conveyor bed mounted for back and forth movement,

a thrust rod,

first universal coupling means connecting one end of the rod to the conveyor,

a rotor disc rotatable on a predetermined axis,

means for rotating the rotor disc,

second universal coupling means connecting the other end of the rod eccentrically to the disc,

and means for adjustably tilting said axis of the rotor disc through a range from a first position in which substantially no throw is imparted to the conveyor and a second position in which a predetermined maximum throw is imparted to the conveyor.

7. In a vibrating conveyor,

a movably mounted conveyor bed,

a thrust member,

universal joint means coupling one end of the thrust member to the conveyor bed at a predetermined point thereon,

a rotor,

an electric motor rotating the rotor about a central axis thereof,

universal joint means coupling one end of the thrust member to a point on the rotor eccentric to the rotor member,

a pivotal plate mounting the electric motor,

means urging the conveyor bed in a direction urging the thrust member toward the rotor member,

and manually controlled means for selectively adjusting the position of the plate from a position in which the central axis of the rotor is aligned with said predetermined point to a position in which the central axis of the rotor is angularly inclined relative to a line extending from said point to the central portion of the rotor.

8. The vibrating conveyor of claim 7 wherein the manually controlled means includes a cylinder device.

9. In a vibrating conveyor,

a conveyor bed,

means mounting the bed for movement along a predetermined path,

an electric motor having a shaft,

a rotor keyed to the shaft,

mounting means mounting the motor pivotally on an axis generally transverse to at least a portion of the p means for selectively pivotally adjusting the motor relative to the conveyor bed,

a thrust rod,

a ball-and-socket joint connecting one end of the thrust rod eccentrically to the rotor,

means connecting the other end of the thrust rod to the conveyor bed,

and means urging the conveyor bed in a direction such as to maintain the thrust rod under compression.

10. In a vibrating conveyor,

a swash plate mounted for rotation on an adjustable axis,

means for rotating the swash plate,

a conveyor bed,

means for urging the conveyor bed in one direction,

a thrust rod,

an arm fixed to and extending radially from the periphery of the swash plate,

first ball-and-socket joint means connecting the arm to one end of the thrust rod,

second ball-and-socket joint means connecting the other end of the thrust rod to the conveyor bed,

and means for adjusting the swash plate to laterally adjust the axis of rotation thereof relative to the second ball-and-socket joint means. 11. The vibrating conveyor of claim 10 wherein the first ball-and-socket joint means comprises a ball fixed to the arm,

a pair of socket members engaging opposite sides of the ball, 7

and housing means fastened to the thrust rod and enclosing the ball and the socket members.

12. In a vibrating conveyor,

a conveyor bed,

a swash plate, 7

a member fixed to the conveyor bed and having a frustoconical socket facing the swash plate,

a thrust rod having a tapered end portion fitting loosely in the frusto-conical socket,

universal joint means connecting the thrust rod eccentrically to the swash plate,

means for rotating the swash plate,

and means for selectively tilting the swash plate relative to the conveyor bed.

13. In a vibrating conveyor,

21 swash plate mounted for rotation on a predetermined axis and having a trust e-conical socket in one face thereof,

a conveyor bed,

a thrust rod having a tapered end fitting loosely in the socket,

universal joint means connecting the other end of the thrust rod to the conveyor bed,

means for rotating the swash plate,

and means for selectively tilting the swash plate relative to the conveyor bed.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 882,512 3/ 1908 Woodbury 74-26 X 2,337,174 12/ 1943 Bebinger. 2,905,311 10/ 1959 Marchetti.

EVON C. BLUNK, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Examiner.

R. M. WALKER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A VIBRATING CONVEYOR, A CONVEYOR BED MOUNTED FOR BACK AND FORTH MOVEMENT, A ROTOR ROTATED ON A CENTRAL AXIS INCLINED RELATIVE TO TO THE CONVEYOR BED, CONNECTING MEANS CONNECTING A PREDETERMINED POINT OF THE CONVEYOR TO A PORTION OF THE ROTOR ECCENTRIC TO THE CENTRAL AXIS THEREOF, AND ADJUSTMENT MEANS FOR ADJUSTING LATERALLY THE CENTRAL AXIS OF THE ROTOR RELTIVE TO THE CONVEYOR BED TO VART THE THROW OF THE ROTOR AND CONNECTING MEANS. 